The Kids are Alright
by snchills
Summary: Dean tries to walk away, but can he really.
1. Chapter 1: Recriminations and Flight

"Dean, talk to me, will ya already." Dean heard Sam's voice almost begging. Dean hated that voice, that 'I messed up and now I need to be forgiven' voice. Dean just wanted to be left alone. He was tired. Bone weary tired. All these feelings kept swirling around in his head, digging at him, taunting him, and now they were making him have to deal with things he had been trying to avoid for some time now. He looked over at Sam. Sam's eyes pleadingly looking back at him.

"What? What?" Dean demanded hoping to his tone would be enough to keep the ensuing conversation at bay. "Sammy, don't push it." Dean thinks to himself. "I don't want to hear the truth, because if I do, I won't have anything left." But what was the truth?

"What if all I am is a 'good little soldier'? If this is all I know, and I can't even get this right, how the hell do I live with this….guilt. These people died because of me. How can I justify my life, my survival, if everything I am is one giant failure? Sam knows this. That's why he hates me so much." the recriminations swirled in Dean's head.

"I failed him. If only I had only left him alone. No… I had to take him with me, had to mess up his life. He never should have been forced to make that kind of decision. He did this because of me, and now what? He just starts to hate me again when all his guilt to turn to anger." Dean's mind shuddered at the memory of that night in the asylum. The look of pure true hatred from his brother. Even if he was being controlled by Dr. Ellicott, Dean knew those feelings had to have come out of some place. Some place deep. The memory still pained Dean.

"No wonder he hates me. All I have done is making his life miserable?" Dean shook his head. "He probably saved me just so he wouldn't feel so guilty about trying to kill me." Even as he thought that he knew that wasn't true. No Sam loved him, he proved that in Nebraska.

His thoughts drift to the last couple of hunts they have done recently. The risks he's taken. The thoughts that he could just end it all during a hunt. Only the look on Sam's face stopped Dean from going all the way.

"No I can never die in front of Sammy." Dean remembers the pain on Sam's face when he thought he was going to die in the hospital. "God only knows what he would be willing to do to save me the next time."

He tried being mad at Sam after the faith healing but he just couldn't keep it up for long. He knew Sam only did it out of love and not malice. His brother had no way of knowing there was a reaper behind it, but still, it scared Dean to think of what Sam was willing to do to save him. Then another horrible thought entered Dean's mind.

"What if Sam is willing to die for me too? I can never let that happen, not ever. He can never be in that position where he will have to choose his life or mine." Dean thought about that a little longer and then he made his decision.

"If I'm not around he'll never have to choose." The final piece clicked into place Dean knew what he had to do.

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"Dean, talk to me, will ya already?" Sam looked over at Dean. Lately he'd been really worried about his brother. Sam would have done anything to prevent his brother from dying. He berated himself for somehow not knowing about the reaper, but he was desperate. Worse yet his brother still wasn't himself. Dean may not be dying physically anymore but it seemed to Sam that he was still dying emotionally.

"I wish you had never brought me here." Dean's words echoed in his head every night. He knew it weighed heavily on Dean's heart that someone else died so he could live. It was a decision Dean would have never made to save his own life

There seemed to be other things weighing Dean down as well. After the incident in the Asylum, Dean was quiet, too quiet, about what had transpired. Sam needed to explain but Dean refused to hear anything about that night. And the fights, they were coming more frequently now. Each time it looked to Sam that it bothered his brother more and more. Not that he would ever say anything, but Sam knew he had hurt his brother deeply, maybe too deeply.

"No wonder he thinks I hate him. Every word out of my mouth for weeks has proved that." Sam sadly thinks to himself.

With every job since then, Dean seemed to take a bigger chance with his life, doing more and more life threatening stunts on a hunt. A couple of times Sam had to track him down because he had taken off without him. Dean had always been brave but now he was being reckless and this new Dean scared the hell out of Sam. After one particularly harrowing escape Sam finally had it out with Dean.

"How could you do that?" he screamed at Dean. "Don't you know you could have been killed? What the hell were you thinking going after a demon by yourself? What do you have a death wish now?" Dean stood silent with no answers to give him.

But Dean did have a death wish of sorts. He still felt like he deserved to die. He couldn't make Sam understand what he was going through, the horrible guilt he was feeling. Only when he was fighting and killing evil did he feel justified in surviving. But Sam did see his pain. The fleeting look of submission on Dean's face when he thought, just thought, about letting the demon kill him. Sam called his brothers name and made him turn around to face him. Only that visual connection saved Dean from surrendering.

"Thank you Sammy for throwing out the lifesaver." Dean was grateful his brother stopped him.

Still Sam kept looking over at his brother. The Dean he had always come to know and trust was now replaced by this stranger. It was like he was diminished in some unseen way, the light gone out of his eyes. Even his famous bravado was gone. He knew something was terribly wrong with his brother. Not something physical or even supernatural, Sam would know how to deal with that.

This was something different, deeper, and strangely emotional. That frightened him more because he knew how Dean always internalized things. It was a side of Dean Sam wasn't used to seeing. Anger yes, but never remorse and regret, and the one that scared him the most…defeat. The look of utter defeat in is eyes. Dean never gave up on anything and now it had seemed he had given up on everything. Every time Sam tried to reach him he seemed to go deeper into himself. He was at a loss as to how to help his brother.

He knew he wasn't eating anymore. Just this afternoon he had found a burger and fries buried in the trash, again. Sleep was out of the question as well. On the rare occurrences Dean did sleep all he seemed to do was have nightmares. One particular nightmare ripped Sam's heart out. He could hear his brother talking in his sleep. Reliving the night at the Asylum when Sam shot him not once, not twice but four times not counting the rock salt. In Dean's sleep he flinched hard at each shot as if he were really hit. They may not have been physical wounds Sam inflicted that night, but he knew they had caused some very real emotional wounds. Sam wished he had that moment back everyday since.

It had been quiet the last couple of days. Sam was grateful the last few jobs had been relatively simple. While on the job Dean seemed back to be himself, strong, confident, and fearless. Sam was happy the reckless side of his brother was gone. After he hunts though, the silence still hung between them constantly. Conversations started by Sam were usually replied to by grunts and nods. His brother had just shut down.

"He's over the edge and I don't know how to pull him back." Sam thought watching his brother again.

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Dean sat at the table staring into space pretending to read the newspaper. Sam looked over at him as he started to get out of bed.

"It would help if you turned the paper the right way up Dean." Sam laughed as he noticed the newspaper upside down. It was meant as a joke so Dean's reaction was totally unexpected. Without a warning Dean sent the newspaper and everything else on the table flying to the floor.

"Jesus, Dean what the hell?" Sam bent over and started picking things up.

"Leave me the hell alone!" Dean snapped at Sam. Without saying another word he got up and stormed out of the motel room. Sam stared at the door his brother just slammed shut, stunned. He waited to hear the sound of his brother driving off but instead he heard nothing. Sam went to the door and looked outside expecting to see his brother inside the car but the Impala sat empty. Sam looked around the parking lot but Dean was nowhere to be found.

"Where the hell did he go?" he asked himself. The emptiness of the parking lot sent a shiver down his spine. Confused and concerned he turned back inside. Looking down he saw the keys to Dean's prize possession on the floor underneath the table. Sam scooped them up even more concerned. He ran back outside and jumped in the Impala hoping he'd spot his brother if he drove around. Three hours later Sam returned to the motel room praying that his brother had come back.

"Dean!" Sam called out as he reentered the room but the room was empty. Then Sam noticed something that frightened him immediately. Dean's backpack was gone but on top the table laid his all his weapons. Sam picked them up and looked them over. They were cleaned and readied just like Dean left them after the last job. Turning around Sam could see his cell phone still on the night stand.

"Why would he leave these?" Sam thought to himself and then came the bitter realization. "He waited till I left to get his stuff." He sat at the table stunned at the revelation. Then out of the corner of his eye he spotted the piece of paper. Unfolding it with shaking hands he read the short note.

"_Sorry Sammy. I just gotta go_." was all it said.

Two days passed and still his brother hadn't return. Sam paid for a couple of extra nights unwilling to leave incase Dean came back. He drove around to the local pool halls and bars looking for him and nothing, but no one had seen him. Finally he tried the hospitals and the morgue. The latter scaring him when they told him they had a John Doe matching Dean's description. Sam sped down fearing the worst but the unfortunate victim was someone else's brother. Still that didn't comfort Sam.

He answered every phone call, every e-mail, and every attempted communication for days hoping it would be his brother. Finally, not knowing what else to do, he packed up and left. It was strange to be driving the Impala without his brother in the seat next to him. He drove aimlessly for the first few days not knowing where to go, Deans mullet rock blaring from the tape player. He thought about going back to Lawrence and looking Missouri up.

"Naww she'll only tell me what a crappy brother I've been." Sam changed his mind not ready to face her reproach yet. The thought of continuing the search for John unsettled him too.

"How the hell do I explain to Dad, even if I did find him, that I don't have a clue where my brother is?" Sam started to berate himself but quickly got angry at his brother again. "You walked out on me you stupid bastard. Where the hell are you?"

That was 7 days ago.

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Authors Note: Sorry this chapter isalittle down but that was my state of mind at the time I wrote it. Feeling better now. Hope you enjoyed.


	2. Chapter 2 Separation and Guilt

Dean really didn't have a plan when he stormed out the door. He did feel a little guilty leaving like that but he just couldn't face his brother anymore. His initial plan, when he came back, was to just make up with Sam and leave it at that like they always did. Once he saw his car was gone he knew it was the right time to take off. Grabbing his stuff, he just started walking eventually ending up on an interstate. Holding out his thumb, it didn't take too long before he was picked up. He sat with several drivers before finally getting out in a small town in Oklahoma off I-40.

Right away he finds a place to live. Sitting in a diner he sees an apartment for rent sign on the bulletin board and calls the number listed. It's a small place but he likes it immediately. The apartment is normal looking, his neighbors the same. Not a hint of the supernatural in the vicinity. In fact the only thing nearby was a Laundromat and the diner. Still he made sure he could rent it month to month out of habit. Things had been known to happen and he wanted to be able to leave if he had to.

"That won't be anytime soon." He thinks lying on his bed. "Well it's a little better than a motel room." Actually it's nice to be able to put his clothes in a closet for a change and not have to stuff them back into a duffel bag days later.

"And it's nice to have an address again. I could almost get used to this." He laughs to himself. "Sammy would never let me live that down."

It feels feel good to be doing something, anything, that doesn't involve hunting or killing. At the moment he doesn't miss all that hunting entails. What he does miss however is his brother. For a fleeting moment he thinks about calling Sam, and then changes his mind.

"He's better off without me." Dean says to himself.

Later on that day while walking around, he spots an employment agency and heads inside. He really isn't too interested in what he does as long as it keeps his mind occupied and still earns him a couple of bucks. He knows Sam will be looking for him in pool halls and bars so he decides he will work someplace Sam will never look for him. As he fills out the application he makes sure he uses one of his backup aliases, Dean Nicholson. Accepting his ID and SS # without question, the lady behind the desk rifles through a pile of paper work and stops at a listing for the school district.

"Looks like they have an opening for a maintenance engineer." She looks up at Dean to see if he is interested.

"What the hell I've been picking up after Sam all these years. Now I'll just do for a lot of little Sam's." he thinks to himself.

"That will do fine." He tells her accepting the job. They talk about pay and benefits.

"I don't know what they do in that school but they sure run through a lot of janitors" she continues. Dean doesn't bother to ask what she means about that. He's just happy to have something to occupy his mind and keep the ever present demons away.

"Here's the address. They'll be expecting you around 7:00 am" She hands him a piece of paper with the information he needs. He groans at the early start time but take the paper from her hand.

"Thanks a lot. I appreciate all your help." He gives her his best charming smile.

Showing up at the school the next day Dean stands outside and takes a look around. The school is a classic two story brick with wide windows and wooden doors like thousands of other schools that were built in the 40's. It had a few additions added over the years but it stilled looked like several of the schools Sam and Dean had attended when they were younger.

"Regis Elementary School. God Sam would love this place. It's so……. Norman Rockwell." He shudders at the thought. Sighing he heads inside.

Within a couple of days he settles into the normal routine of empting wastebaskets, cleaning the bathrooms, and mopping the floor. It's kinda nice to be part of a crew. He likes the conversations and easy humor of his new co-workers and they accept him right away as just another guy on the team. When pressed about his family he tells them he grew up in orphanage and has been on his own since he was 16. After seeing his reaction, they didn't ask him anymore personal questions.

Listening to their stories about their families, Dean tries to relate, but only ends up feeling a sense of loss over a life he didn't get a chance to have. When his feelings try to resurface, he pushes them back down again. Before when that happened he would just hunt and kill something and take it out on the creature. Now alone in his room he is dealing with things he never thought he would have to deal with; his anger at John, his resentment of his brother and his feelings of betrayal by both. Mostly his own guilt at leaving his brother behind. He ends up feeling even more sad and confused.

One night he missed Sam so bad he did he actually dialed his number. When Sam didn't pick up Dean just left him a voice mail. "Hey Sammy, just wanted to let you know I'm ok. I miss you geek boy. I guess you know I'm not coming back anytime soon sorry." and hangs up.

His new job gives him something constructive to do. One night his boss tells him the gym floor has to be waxed. Normally it would take two of them to do it but since the other guy called in Dean is going to have to do it alone. He sets up the equipment and is about to start when something catches his eye in the corner of the gym. Looking straight at it he swears it's a little girl in a brown dress, her hair in pigtails, but after he blinks and looks again the girl is gone. Dean shakes his head but there is no mistaking what she is.

"Aww crap not here too." he thinks laughing to himself. "Leave it to me to find a haunted school. Sam would so get a kick out of this."

About half way through the gym he takes a break and is sitting on a bleacher when he sees something else in the shadows. This time it is two little boys. The older one about 10, the younger about 6. By the looks of them they appeared to be brothers. He smiles at them and waves. They wave back before they scamper off into the darkness as well. This continues through out the night. Every now and then children would appear and watch Dean and then run off. Dean walks around the gym trying to find them but they run and hide from him. Walking into the northeast corner he feels a terrible cold and sense of anger standing there. Worse yet a sense of evil. The next morning Dean's new boss, Jack Wilson, asks him how it went the night before in the gym.

"Fine no problems" Dean answers him.

"You didn't have too many interruptions did you? Did the equipment work ok?" Jack asks with a strange tone.

"No interruptions. One of the other guys told me you usually need two people to do it but I don't know why. It wasn't that hard a job to do alone. " Dean waits for an explanation.

"Maybe for you, you seem to be a hard worker, but I can't keep a good crew here. A couple of times the guys claimed the waxer wouldn't start so they couldn't get it done. Another couple of times I've come in to check on crews and they've gone in the middle of the night. Just up and left all the equipment right in the middle of the gym floor. You're the first one who would do the gym alone in a long time. Well you and Willis Tanner." Jack tells him.

"I wonder why. Who's Willis Tanner? I don't think I have met him yet." Dean is really curious now. He wonders if his boss knows the real reason for the sudden disappearance of the other crews. His hopes for an explanation fade as Jack changes the subject.

"Willis Tanner. God, he's been here since before Christ. Gotta be in his late 60', early 70's by now. Won't even think about retiring. You'll meet him soon. If you want I can put you permanent on the overnight shift with him. There's a $2.00 hr pay differential." Jack offers.

"Great cool I'll take it. None of the other guys want to work overnights? Even with the differential?" Dean asks.

"Naww they all claim they can't work overnights. It will just be you and Willis. Now maybe we can finally get something's finished around here that we can't get done during the day. Willis is good but you know he's an old man. I'm sure he will appreciate having a younger guy around to help with all the heaving stuff. You wanna start tomorrow night?"

"Sure thing boss" Dean is actually looking forward to it. He's always been a night person so the hours really don't bother him.

The next night Dean shows up on time and starts making his rounds picking up wastebaskets and cleaning the rooms. Hearing whistling down the hall he pushes his trash cart to the library and spots an older African American gentleman checking out some of the books. Not wanting to disturb him he clears his throat. Willis looks up at him and smiles.

"Gotta keep the mind activated" he says getting up and reaching his hand out to Dean. "You must be Dean Nicholson, I'm Willis Tanner. Dean quickly returns the handshake.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Tanner." He says smiling back.

"Ahh it's nice to know your parents raise you proper but you don't have to call me Mr. Tanner, Willis will do just fine."

"All right Willis. You're right about keeping the mind activated." Dean likes the man immediately.

"You a reader Dean?" Willis asks him.

"No that's more my brothers style. I prefer to consider myself a man of action." He laughs at the thought. He could just see Sam rolling his eyes.

"A man of action eh? Well man of action, did you get all the way down to the 4th grade rooms or are you gonna just stand here and shoot the breeze with me?" Willis slaps him on the back teasing him.

"Well Willis, I've already made it to the 4th grade rooms, the 5th grade rooms and even the 6th grade rooms." Dean says not trying to boast, but no one is gonna catch Dean slacking, even if he's just picking up after little kids.

"Oh did you now. I guess you really are a man of action." Willis looks at him with his eyebrows raised. "Well before you blow a gasket maybe you can just hang out with me for a while. It's break time anyway."

They go get some snacks and coffee out of the vending machines and kick back in the quiet library.

"Ahh I really love this place." Willis says looking around. "Especially at night so peaceful and quiet. None of the interruptions I get in other parts of the school." Dean's attention picks up at the word interruptions.

"Yeah Jack mentioned something about that. He was really interested if I had any the other night when I was doing the gym floor. I wasn't sure what he meant by that. I mean what kind of interruptions was he expecting me to have?" Dean eyes Willis hoping for the real explanation.

"Oh you know, stuff happens around here. It's an old school. There's bound to be weird noises at night. Things like that." Willis avoids looking him in the eyes. Dean decides to go for it and tells him that he knows about the kids.

"Noises eh? You mean from the kids and all, cuz that sort of stuff doesn't really bother me." Willis looks at him eyes wide checking to see if he is lying.

"You saw them, did you?" He asks studying Dean.

"If you mean the little girl with pigtails, the two brothers and the rest of the kids then yeah I saw them." Dean admits to him. Willis is genuinely surprised at Dean's reaction.

"Most of the guys won't work at night because of them. You're the first one who isn't freak out about working in a haunted school." Willis continues to watch Dean. "How come they don't bother you?"

"You might say I'm an old pro when it comes to handling evil spirits." Dean tells him but doesn't elaborate further. Willis just nods his head at this information.

"Well Mr. "Man of action" you might just work out around here after all." he chuckles slapping Dean on the back again.

"So what's the story about this place?" Dean asks "How come it's haunted by all these kids?" The question immediately makes Willis uneasy. He looks around before turning back to Dean.

"The boss would kill me if he heard me filling your head with that old story." Willis starts to explain. "Jack doesn't believe any of it but I know that it's true, I was there." Surprised, Dean leans in closer to Willis.

"No kidding really?" Now he's really curious to hear the whole story.

"You'll probably think I'm some crazy old man if I tell ya." Willis looks at Dean to see if he is serious or not.

"If I tell you I believe in ghosts will you tell me what happened? You might say I have some in my family." Dean tries to get him to talk. Willis thinks about this for a moment. He knows one of the guys told him Dean was an orphan.

'Maybe his folks died in some horrible death and their ghosts came back to haunt him. Guess I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.' Willis thinks to himself looking at Dean. He decides to tell him the whole story.

Tbc


	3. Chapter 3 Acceptance and Reconstruction

Willis is lost in thought as he starts to tell Dean his story.

"Back in, I don't know, 1946. It was a year after the war. The guys started coming home and starting families. The original school was already too small so the good townspeople decided to build a new one on the Sam property. Sometimes I would come over and play with the kids at recess if there weren't any teachers around. Other times I used to come around here and hang out watching the construction crew building the place. They used let me pick up debris on the site for pennies and nickels, well until the boss caught me one day. "

"Why didn't they shoo you off? I mean you were supposed to be in school not watching them." Dean stops to ask him.

"You have to remember what year it was Dean. Schools were still segregated back then. The good folks here didn't seem it was necessary to have a school for the "colored folks" so most of us were home school." Willis flat tells him. "It was ok for us to work in them, but it wasn't ok for us to learn in them." Dean stays silent not knowing what to say. Willis continues his story.

"There used to be a teacher, Miss Springton, she was one of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, 'cept for my mama of course. Some of us kids would sneak into her classroom after school just to look at the pictures and books and stuff in her room. One day she caught a couple of us lookin through her books. Instead of being mad she made us promise to come back every Friday after school and she would have a new book for us to read.

The first week none of us showed up 'cause we didn't believe her. Instead we watched her from outside the building. She saw us but she never let on. After awhile she just went home but she left her window open with a book on the windowsill for us. Even though she taught 1st grade she would get us books from the library for us older kids. We'd go through those books like they were gold, and then leave back on the windowsill when we were done. That went on for a few weeks before I got the nerve to bring her back her book in person." He stopped and smiled at the memory.

"She was a real nice lady. She didn't deserve what happened to her." Willis's face saddened.

"What happened?" Dean asked not wanting to interrupt him.

"It was early April; the weather was a kinda nice that day. We'd had a real cold winter. A lot of kids got sick that year. Anyways, most of the kids were out in the yard playing. She was in her classroom with some kids that were still too sick to be outside. I didn't see who set the fire; I just know someone threw a firebomb through the window of her classroom. It set the whole room up right quick. Some of the kids got out the door but the fire musta spread quickly cuz it trapped Mrs. Springton and a few of the little ones in the corner. Some of the construction workers ran over and broke out the windows to try and get them out, but that just made the fire spread faster. We heard horrible, horrible screams from inside her room. The kids calling for their mama's………." Willis stopped and shuddered, thinking about that moment. He closed his eyes trying to block the memory of the flames.

"Six kids died that day. Susie Walls, Billy Tabor, Patty Lonnes, Tommy Hill, and Andrew Sutton." Willis recited each name like they were family to him.

"You said six kids died. You only named 5." Dean asked quietly.

Willis let out a sigh, the memory visibly draining him. "Robbie Tabor, Billy's older brother. We were around the same age. We used to hang out by the creek sometimes and skip rocks and catch fish. His classroom was down the hall from Billy's. They think he tried to run in and save his little brother but got caught up in the fire instead." Dean knew what that feeling was like. If your little brother was in trouble you'd do what ever it took to save him even if it meant risking your own life. He missed Sam immediately.

"I couldn't even go to Robbie's funeral." Willis continued. Dean knew why without having to ask.

"Did they ever catch the person who set the fire?" he respectfully asked.

"Yeah they did. He was a delivery driver for the construction site. His name was Donald Rollins; I'll never forget that name. He saw us in her class one day after school. Said it really got him mad seeing her wasting her time teachin' "niggers". He wanted to teach her a lesson so he figured if he burnt up her classroom she couldn't teach us any more. Said at the trial he didn't know any kids were still in the classroom, thought they would all be outside playing. Guess he figured they would get the fire out before anyone got hurt." Willis looked up at Dean, eyes narrowed. "They gave him the electric chair."

"That would explain the evil spirit in the gym then." Dean thinks out loud for a moment. Willis looks at him surprised.

"What do you mean 'evil spirit'?" Willis looks at Dean like he's a little touched. Dean tries to find a way to explain what he felt without giving away too much information about how he knows about these things.

"You know in the northeast corner of the gym. Have you ever noticed how cold it is over there?" He asks the old man. Willis thinks about this for a moment.

"Ya know I think you're right. We've had guys out here off and on for years trying to fix that thinking the heating unit was malfunctioning. Never could find anything wrong either." Willis nods as he answers Dean's question.

"Bet nobody ever sits in that section of the bleachers either." Willis shoots up as soon as he hears Dean's question.

"You're right. No matter how crowded are, that section of the gym is always empty. You say it's an evil spirit, well I'll be damned." Willis thinks about it some more. "Ya think he might be responsible for some of the things that have gone wrong around here."

"Could be. What kind of things?" Dean asks him.

"Oh ya know equipment that keeps breaking down even when it's brand new. Guys getting sick after working only a few days here. Children refusing to enter the gym." Willis described what would happen.

"Well children can pick up on that sorta energy Willis. That's probably why they wouldn't come inside. The guys, well they could too, but they probably didn't realize what was causing it. Bet they had a lot of headaches, maybe some stomach problems, mood swings, things like that." Dean explains.

"Yeah, how'd you know about that and how come you know so much about evil spirits?" Willis isn't quite sure what to make of Dean now.

"I used to have a grandmother that was into all that stuff. You know evil spirits, ghosts, haunting's, things like that. I guess some of it rubbed off on me." Dean covers his tracks with his story.

"I see. And did this grandmother tell you what we have to do to get rid of them." Willis asks a little skeptical Dean would actually know.

"Actually she did Willis." Dean doesn't want to tell him too much.

"What is it some sorta spell or something or do you have to do an exorcism like I'd seen in the movies?" Willis is still really skeptical. Dean laughs at Willis's suggestions.

"No Willis nothing like that. We just have to dig up Donald Rollins's grave, and then salt and burn his bones." Dean answered without thinking. He hesitates immediately when he sees Willis's expression.

'You're kidding right?" the old man's face filled with instant fear. Dean back pedals a bit.

"Umm of course I am Willis. Just playin with ya." Dean kicks himself for saying too much. He quickly changes the subject.

"What about the teachers ghost, Miss Springton, does she haunt the school too?" Dean figures if the kids are still hanging around the teacher will be too.

"Miss Springton? A few of us have seen her too I guess. Mostly in the gym but sometimes she shows up in the classrooms. A couple of teachers have actually seen her in their classrooms during school hours. I guess she still misses the kids." Willis is still thinking about what Dean just said but continues the story. "I see her in the library sometimes. That's one of the reasons why I sit in there at night."

"That's not too unusual. I mean since they all died together she would be still protecting the kids, especially if there was an evil spirit nearby." Dean elaborates a little further.

"I'll be damned. So you're sayin this Donald Rollins ghost might be trying to get at the kids even after the son of a bitch is dead?" Willis starts thinking about it some more.

"Not really 'after them' so much as still connected to them. Think about it Willis. They all died horrible deaths, even Rollins. Its bound to make any spirit uneasy." Dean tries to explain with out scaring him further.

"I get it. Because the kids died here they just don't know where else to go, right?" Willis looks to Dean for the answer. "And even though Rollins didn't die here he still comes back to haunt the place. But I don't get why he would come back Dean. He died in the state penitentiary two years later."

"Guilt probably Willis, it's a pretty strong emotion." Dean thinks remembering his own guilty feelings. "Maybe anger, hatred, who knows why. All we know is that evil spirit is probably him and we have to figure out a way of getting rid of him."

"I don't know Dean. How do we get rid of an evil spirit?" Willis looks Dean over slowly realizing that Dean has already told him how.

"Son if that is what you have to do then I'm sorry but you're gonna have to leave me out of it." Willis shakes his head. "I don't want any part of burning anybody's bones.

"It'll be safer if you're not involved anyway." Dean agrees starting to think about what he needs to get rid of Rollins spirit.

"I'll take your word for it Dean." Willis says still unsure about what Dean is going to do. They each sit there lost in thought. Suddenly Willis speaks up.

"What's the date today?" he asks Dean.

"Umm I don't know, April 8th, why?" puzzled, Dean answers. Willis takes a deep breath.

"The day after tomorrow is the anniversary of the fire." He says in a low voice. Dean looks at him eyes wide.

"You're kidding right, the day after tomorrow? How long has it been?" Dean needs more information. Willis speaks still lost in thought.

"60 years" He shakes his head at the passing of time.

"Is there normally more activity from the ghosts on this date Willis? I mean have you ever noticed stranger things happening then the usual ghost stuff, maybe they get a little more violent." Dean keeps asking more questions.

"The kids no, they've never been any trouble. But over the years there have been weird things that happen on that date. 25 yrs ago the Principle's car blew up in the parking lot. They said it was a faulty gas line that blew up as he was leaving but he was driving a brand new car. He survived but he had some serious burns. Then we had a coach here a few years back that had a heart attack while watching the kids during gym class. He didn't make it. Last year we had the whole gym repainted and one of the workers fell from the scaffolding and broke his back. Poor guy is paralyzed from the waist down. I seem to recall it was around that date too. Do you think this is all connected Dean?" The memories swirl around in Willis's head.

"I think so Willis. Rollins probably returns to create havoc on that date. That might explain why I felt him in the gym the other day. His spirit's energy is growing the closer to the date of the fire it gets. I think we'd better prepare for some more trouble to happen." Dean doesn't want to scare him about what kind of trouble an evil spirit can create.

"There's one more thing too Dean." Willis has a worried look on his face. "That's the day of the Spring Festival. Jack already told me to haul out the tables and decorations so the kids could work on it tomorrow."

"Great! And I suppose the gym will be filled with all the kids and their parents." Dean absorbs this new information and it worries him. He knows it's just the sort of set up that can cause a catastrophe. He starts to swear under his breath.

"The kids have been working on their skits for weeks now Dean. You don't think we'll have any trouble do you?" Willis is worried now. Dean tries to calm the old mans fears right away.

"Willis if I tell you nothing is gonna happen will you believe me?" Dean looks him in the eyes. Willis nods at him. Dean continues. "I know what to do, so I don't want you to say anything to anyone else about this. It might cause them to panic and I don't want to ruin the kid's fun."

"I believe you Dean." Willis's face a little worried.

Dean is really missing Sam now. He doesn't have any of his weapons here and he knows it isn't a good idea to ask Willis where the local ghost hunting shop might be. He was gonna have to make do with what ever he could find locally.

"We're running out of time. Damn it Sammy I wish you were here now." Dean desperately thinks to himself. Little did he know his brother is closer than he thinks.


	4. Chapter 4 Reunion and Forgiveness

Sam has been driving around for days afraid to stop anywhere but for food and gas. Finally one night it got close to freezing outside and Sam seeks out a warm motel room. He doesn't hear the phone ringing as he stands under a hot shower. The heat penetrating his sore body cramped up from spending so much time in the car. He kicks himself when he sees the light flashing on his phone indicating a voice mail, and holds his breath when he listens to Dean's voice on the message. He tries repeatedly to call the number back but all he gets is the ringer taunting him. No answering machine picks up the call. As soon as he hangs up he gets online and uses the reverse directory the number to see where Dean is calling from. It wouldn't give him a street address but it did give him the town. Looking it up on Mapquest he sees he was still over 1000 miles away. He quickly loads the car back up and heads out to Oklahoma.

Almost 24 blurried eyes hours later Sam pulls in to town. Exhausted, he drives around town until he finds a motel room. Once inside he crashes and sleeps for 10 hrs straight. Waking up early the next morning he immediately feels on edge, like something is going to happen. He showers and put on clean clothes hoping the hot water will wash away some of the trepidation. Most of his uncertainty is about how Dean will react if he ever finds his brother. Some of it is something else, something nagging in the back of his consciousness. He tries to shake it off as he climbs into the car and starts to drive around town. Immediately he notices how laidback and old fashion the town looks. None of the modern glass clad buildings. It has a nice homey feel to it. Sam couldn't help smiling to himself.

"He had to pick the most normal looking town in America." He says to himself thinking about Dean. "I guess if you had to run away from the life we live this would be the furthest place from it." A few blocks from the motel Sam drives past the town elementary school. Outside in the yard kids are yelling and playing. Squeals of fun echoed off the school walls. He is so intent on watching them as he drives by that he almost misses the man walking ahead of him heading down the street.

"Dean!" he yells out slamming on the brakes hard. He is about to jump out before he realizes he hasn't put the car in park yet. Dean spins around instantly at the sound of his name.

"What the hell?" Dean said as he runs back to his brother and the car. "Sam what the hell are you doing here? How on earth did you find me?" he startles Sam by giving him a bear hung.

"Dean, oh my god." He starts to laugh as he hugs his brother back. It wasn't until a car honked behind them that they realize they are still standing in the middle of the street. Dean walks back over to the sidewalk.

"Park it over here Sammy, behind the school." He points to the parking lot. Sam quickly leaves it in a space and joins Dean in front of the school yard.

"Jesus look at you." Sam starts to laugh when he notices Dean is wearing a janitors uniform. "Oh no way….. don't tell me." He starts to playfully punch Dean's arm. Dean returns the punch immediately.

"It's no different than cleaning up after you all these years Sammy." Dean teases him. "What can I say I need a paycheck? This is as good as anything." Sam nods but then his tone gets serious.

"Damn it Dean where the hell did you go? I've been worried about you for days. I'm half tempted to beat the crap out of you for scaring me like that." Sam looks over at Dean waiting for an explanation. Dean looks down on the ground struggling for the words. When he finds them he doesn't hold back.

"I don't know what happened, Sam. I just couldn't deal anymore. Not with hunting, not with Dad, not with you, not even with myself. I felt like, I don't know, I was gonna go crazy if I didn't do something. I just didn't know what to do. I hitched a ride and ended up here. But you know what, Sam I feel safe here. It's the first time I've felt safe in a long time. There's nobody here I can hurt. Nobody here I can let down…" Dean looks at up at Sam. "No ones life is in danger if I screw up."

Sam watches his brother struggle with his confession. It's the most emotion he has seen from his brother in a long time. Dean stops and the silence hangs between them for a moment. Finally Sam speaks up.

"I guess I'm just used to you always being there Dean. Always knowing what to do. Always having the answer. I never realized how much of a burden it was. How much of a burden I was."

"You've never been a burden Sammy." Dean interrupts him.

"Yeah I have been Dean. Dad made me your responsibility when I was a baby and that was totally unfair of him. I guess over the years I hoped you would just stand up to him and tell him to fuck off for making you miss out on your life. When you didn't, I don't know, it just made me mad because you could be so much more than what he is Dean. I hated to watch you live for us." Sam unburdened himself as well.

"Even after you almost died, you were still willing to sacrifice your life for someone else. Why Dean? Why is it you value everyone else's life besides your own? I don't understand."

Dean stands there absorbing Sam's words not sure how to answer because he wasn't really sure himself. "It's all I know how to do Sam. I don't have anything else. I know I let you down. I'm sorry." He knew his answer was weak. His voice barely above a whisper now.

"Don't! Don't start with the guilt crap Dean. The guilt crap ends here, right now." Sam's voice startles even himself. "Promise me Dean." Dean just shakes his head so Sam continues.

"Ok here's the deal. If I have to stop feeling guilty about Jessica dying, you have to stop feeling guilty about getting healed. Neither one of us could have seen what was gonna happen so how could we have prevented it. We're not fortune tellers you know." Sam tries to make Dean understand. Dean nods his head then suddenly starts to smirk.

"Umm isn't that what you are little brother. I mean, you're the one with the visions and stuff. Doesn't that make you a fortune teller?" Dean looks at Sam and starts teasing him. "You know, we could get a little store front here, maybe a crystal ball, you know the works." Sam gives him his most exasperated look but laughs anyway.

"Jesus, Dean. What the hell good are they when they cant even help me find my brother?" Sam says all teasing aside.

"Speaking of, how the hell did you find me? If you didn't have a vision, how did you know where to look? It's not like I left any clues. Hell even I didn't know where I was going. Next thing you'll be telling me is we're psychically connected." curious Dean waits for an answer.

"Who knows Dean, maybe we are psychically connected, we are brothers after all. Hell half the time I used to think that was how Dad kept track of us when we were kids." He stops and smiles at Dean.

"No, I used the reverse directory on the number you called from." Sam proudly tells his brother.

"You what?" Dean asked amazed.

"You called me, right? I just got online and looked the number up. It didn't give me an address but it brought up the town you were calling from. I just hopped in the car and headed here. I guess it was a coincidence that I saw you walking down the street." Sam fills in the details.

"No coincidence Sammy, fate." Dean looks Sam in the eyes. "You're gonna love this one." Sam looks at him confused.

"I think we are supposed to be here. There's something going on, something only you and I would know how to fix, and its happening right here." Dean starts to explain pointing to the school. Sam looks even more confused. Dean starts to laugh.

"I'm working in a haunted school Sammy." He still can't believe it himself.

"Jesus you're kidding me, right." Sam is stunned. One look at Dean tells him he isn't kidding.

"Yep. I took off cuz I was trying to leave all this supernatural crap behind and what happens. I end up working in a school filled with ghosts of dead kids. 'Every time I leave something just keeps pulling me back.' " Dean say chuckling.

"No way man, don't start quoting 'the Godfather' to me" he searches Dean's face to see if he is lying to him. "Serious dude, the school is haunted? How? Why?" Dean reaches over and puts his arm around his brother's shoulder.

"Let me tell you a little story Sammy." They head back to Dean's apartment where he fills him in on the story Willis told him. A few hours and few beers later Dean stops and lets Sam absorb the story. Sam leans back in the recliner thinking about what Dean has told him.

"You're right; I don't think there is anyone in this town beside you and me that would know how to get rid of a ghost. I take it you have a plan?" Sam asks knowing full well Dean has this all worked out already.

"Salt and burn. You know the routine but there's only one problem." Dean has to admit.

"Yeah and what's that?" Sam hopes it won't be too big of a problem.

"I asked Willis about it but he doesn't know. Really there aren't too many people around who would know, but…" Dean hesitates

"and…." Sam's starting to get annoyed.

"No one remembers where Rollins is buried. Willis and I already checked old newspaper clippings and nothing is mentioned." Dean tells his brother.

"Maybe he's was buried at the prison." Sam asks hoping for the best.

"Nope we checked there too. Plus it seems like what ever family he had in town left shortly after his execution so we won't have any luck asking them." Dean explains further.

"Have you tried going through the local cemeteries. I mean a town this small, how many cemeteries can they have?" Sam tries to come up with more ideas.

"Four, I was gonna have to spend today going though them all but with you here we can go though them much faster." Dean knows his brother is already on board with the idea.

"Well if we are cemetery hopping we better get moving." Sam gets up and heads towards the door with Dean on his heels. They head for the car and stop as they realize they both have walked towards the driver's side. Sheepishly Sam pulls the keys from his pocket and tosses them to Dean.

"Sorry, I kinda got used to driving her all the time." He says as he climbs into the passenger side. Dean gets in and runs his hand on the dashboard.

"Daddy's home baby." He says almost cooing. Looking over at him, Sam gives him the standard eye roll response. "Oh brother."

tbc


	5. Chapter 5 Resilience and Retaliation

Chapter 5 Resilience and Revenge

They spend the next few hours going from one cemetery to the next. Talking with caretakers, family members who happen to be visiting relatives, nothing. Either no one remembers or no one is willing to tell them anything. Finally with daylight fading they decide to call it quits.

"Damn it I'd hoped we could have taken care of this dude before the festival tomorrow." Dean's voice etched with concern. He looks at his watch. "I gotta get to work. Why don't you come with me and I'll introduce you to Willis." Getting in the car they head back to Dean's apartment so he can get ready for work.

"Sounds like a plan. Besides if this ghost does start to get, say out of hand tomorrow, you might need me along. You're sure this Willis guy doesn't know where Rollins is buried?" Sam asks again making sure they haven't missed anything.

"Now why would he lie about something like that Sam?" Dean glares back at Sam.

"I don't know, maybe he isn't lying, and maybe he just doesn't remember or doesn't want to remember where this guy is buried. I mean, it happened what, 60 years ago, that's a long time Dean." Sam says as he shrugs his shoulders. A half hour later they are heading back to the school. Dean goes to his trunk, pulls out his shotgun and some extra shells, and tucks them inside his duffle bag. Sam's loads his shotgun and puts it up under his jacket.

"I'll go find Willis; you go check out the gym. That seems to be the place with the most activity." Sam nods in agreement. Once inside the school they split up. Dean heads to the janitors supply closet and grabs his cart tucking the duffle bag underneath. He runs into Willis in his usual spot in the library.

"I see you made it back young man." Willis smiles at him as Dean approaches. "Ready for another exciting day of 'lifestyles of the young and messy'?" Dean looks around making sure they are alone.

"That's what I need to talk to you about Willis." Dean feels kinda bad for having to bail on the old man. "Do you remember what we were talking about last night, the fire, ghosts, and stuff?"

"Yes….." Willis watches Dean intently. "I remember our conversation. You seemed to know an awful lot about ghosts if I recall."

"That's because I do, Willis. Remember what I said about Rollins ghost, how to get rid of it?" Willis nods at him.

"You said something about burning and putting salt on his bones or something like that. I thought you were kidding me." his eyes get wide as he looks at Dean. "You weren't kidding me?"

"No Willis I wasn't, I'm sorry. I just wanted to let you know we came up with a plan and we're gonna take care of your little ghost problem tonight."

"We? What you talkin' about, we. I don't want anything to do with this, that's crazy talk. No way, burning bones, no way I'm having anything to do with that mess." Willis looks shocked at Dean's suggestion. "'sides you have no idea where that Rollins is buried so how can you dig him up?" Dean starts to explain realizing Willis's confusion.

"Sorry Willis, I didn't mean you. You see my brother Sam showed this morning. Seems he tracked me down and besides that's along story. Anyways we can still get rid of Rollins, it's just easier and more permanent if we had his bones to burn." Dean hopes he can trust the man not to say anything to anyone else.

"I thought you said you were an orphan?" his eyes full of distrust. "I take it this brother of yours knows about ghosts and evil spirits too." Willis calms down some as Dean's information sinks in.

"I wasn't lying, and yes he knows as much as I do." Dean has to make Willis believe him. "You might say it's our family business."

"What like 'Ghostbusters'?" Willis says a little amused.

"It's a little more complicated than that Willis. I'm serious, Sam and I can take care of this tonight but we're gonna need your help. We really need to find Rollins's bones if we are gonna get rid of him once and for all. There has to be somebody around now who was there at the time." Dean tried to jog his memory. "Sam and I have already gone through all the cemeteries in town, nothin'." Willis avoided Dean's eyes as he tried to decided how much to tell him.

"There was a rumor when I was a kid that they had some sorta secret burial for that guy. Course I was too young to really be in the loop but I remember my daddy and my grandaddy talkin about it now that I think about it. I think they had to do it at night so no one would try to stop them." Willis looked up at Dean as still not sure if he could trust him.

"Why would some one try to stop them? I'm thinking there would've been plenty of people in this town, namely those kids' families, who would have been there to make sure that bastard was really dead and buried." Dean asked the older man.

"I don't think the question is when he was buried Dean but where he was buried." Willis didn't elaborate right away. He looked up at Dean. "So you're telling me that if you get rid of this guys bones, he won't haunt the school anymore?"

"That's the plan Willis. If he comes out tonight or tomorrow during the festival we can fight him but I was hoping it wouldn't come down to that." Dean shakes his head. Willis let go of a heavy sigh before he started speaking again.

"Dean you have to know, this is a painful part of this towns history. When you left this morning I went over to my daddy's house. He's old and blind now, just turned 95, but still sharp as a tack. I wasn't sure if I should ask him about it." Willis sat and rubbed his forehead.

"It's just that you got me thinking. You sounded so truthful when you said you could get rid of this guy's ghost. This school means everything to me and I don't want anything happening to these kids tomorrow. If he starts trouble and more kids get hurt I don't think I could forgive myself."

"Willis what are you telling me?" Dean began to feel hopeful.

"My daddy told me where Rollins is buried." Willis quietly admitted.

"What? Were?" he jumped up when he heard Willis speak.

"He's buried behind the AME church on N W Dellis Rd" Dean looked at Willis shocked when he heard the location.

"You're kidding me right?" he asked incredulously. One glance at Willis told him he wasn't joking.

"You buried a known racist in a black cemetery. No wonder you had to bury him at night. That can't have gone over too well with the other members of your church, not to mention if the rest of Rollins's family thought like he did. Damn." Dean slowly smiled to himself then he stopped.

"But Sam and I went through every inch of that cemetery Willis. No one named Rollins, no abandoned graves, no hint that that man is even buried there." He looked confused.

"Do you think we would really bury him under his real name?" Willis looked back at Dean a wicked smile on his face. "He's buried under a more appropriate name…..Justice." Before Dean could make a comment his phone started to ring.

"Yeah Sammy what'll you got?" He asked when he saw it was his brother.

"Ah Dean I think we may have a problem." Sammy hesitated before he started to speak again. "I think I'm looking at the ghost of Donald Rollins and he looks really pissed off right now. Jesus, Crap!" Just as Sam was speaking Dean could hear some kind of commotion going on in the background and then nothing. The phone went dead.

"Sammy! Sammy!" Dean shouted into his phone. He flipped it closed and started off for the gym.

"Dean what's happening" Willis shouted after him running behind. Dean turned his head as he ran down the hall.

"Your ghost is attacking my brother." He yelled back to Willis.

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Sam had headed down to the gym. The long hallways gave him a flash back to his own days in elementary school. He chuckled at the artwork that lined the hallways.

"Oh to be that innocent again." He thought to himself. The gym was quiet when he finally got to it. He pulled out the EMFand started scanning the room. Working slowly he moved a few inches at a time. Suddenly the meter moved higher on the scale. He looked up and saw the little girl, Susie, Dean had mentioned before.

"Hi sweetie." He said winking at her. She giggled and ran off. A few feet later he saw the brothers, Robby and Billy. Robby's holding his little brother close, suspicious of Sam at first.

"It's okay I won't hurt you." Sam said to reassure the older boy. Robby nodded back to him, and then they too faded into the shadows. Finally he saw the ghost of the teacher and the rest of the students. They're eyes wide as they hid behind her. She came out from the shadows slowly.

"Be careful." She said whispering. Sam looked at her surprised

"What?" he asked moving closer. Her eyes darted around the gym.

"Be careful. He's still here." She whispered again. Suddenly her eyes went wide as she saw something come up behind Sam. Sam whipped around, the EMF beeping furiously as he saw Rollins moving towards him across the gym. He dropped the EMF and grabbed his shotgun before making a quick call to Dean.

"Ah Dean I think we may have a problem." He said before Dean could barely ask him what was up. " I think I'm looking at the ghost of Donald Rollins and he looks really pissed off right now. Jesus, Crap!"

As Rollins closed in on Sam he suddenly raised up his hands and blue balls of flame shot out from them. Sam took a rolling dive before bringing up the shotgun and taking a shot at the attacking ghost. The sound of the blast echoed through the gym. He cursed when he realized he missed and that gave Rollins another chance at him. Dodging more blue balls of flame he took another shot, just in time to see Dean running into the gym with his own shotgun blazing. Unbelievably both boys missed Rollins. Just then Willis ran up behind Dean. Rollins aimed at the older man and fired at him before Willis had a chance to even know what was happening. Dean immediately spun around and threw himself in front of Willis, one of the fire balls hitting him on the back before they both fell on the floor.

"Dean!" screamed Sam as he saw his brother and Willis go down. He went to take another shot at Rollins but the ghost had disappeared. Sam ran over to the two of them, shotgun still in hand relieved when he saw his brother trying to get up.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean sat up cursing, nursing his left shoulder. Willis pulled himself up off the floor before he realized Dean was hurt. Sam ran up and squatted down by his brother on the floor.

"Is it bad Dean?" he started to unzip Dean's uniform. Dean winced as Sam pulled the sleeve down and examined the burn the size of a melon, on his back near his shoulder.

"Damn Dean it's already blistering." He said looking over the wound.

"Holy mother of Jesus." Willis shouted as he shook his head unbelieving what had just happened.

"Son are you ok?" he knelt next to Dean as well, fear and concern on his face. Dean looked at him and nodded at his brother.

"Willis this is Sam, Sam this is Willis." Dean started to get up. Willis and Sam both grabbed an arm and helped him stand. Sam immediately held out his hand to the older man once he could see Dean was steady on his feet. Willis returned the shake.

"Nice to meet you I think. Ah, what the hell just happened?" he said eyeing the two boys.

"No offense Willis but I need to get Dean fixed up." Sam said apologizing, but he didn't want to stay around to chit chat.

"Of course. Of course." Willis nodded. He started to pick up the boys weapons. "You'd better take these with you."

"Sam we can't leave yet. That bastard might return." Dean said trying not to move his shoulder.

"Dean you're kidding me right. You're in no shape to be fighting anything." Sam couldn't believe Dean wanted to stick around. He reached down, grabbed the dropped EMF, and showed it to Dean.

"See Dean no ghosts" Dean was forced to agree as he glanced at the meter. Not a single beep sounded.

"Ok Sammy, but as soon as you fix me up, we are coming back here." Dean was adamant.

"Agreed Dean." Sam consoled his brother. Dean looked around again still unwilling to leave Willis alone with Rollins still roaming the school.

"Willis you're coming with us. There's no way I'm leaving you alone in this place." Dean spoke to the old man.

"You boys wont have to ask me twice. I'm right behind you." Willis agreed right away.

A short time later they were back in Dean's apartment. Dean wincing as Sam tried to apply some burn ointment and bandages to Dean's back.

"That doesn't look good son. You need to go to the doctor." Willis said as he watched Sam work on Dean.

"Maybe later Willis. Right now we have to figure out a plan to get rid of that son of a bitch." Dean agreed.

"How son? Your bullets didn't seem to have any effect on that thing." Willis still couldn't believe the night's events.

"Not bullets Willis, rock salt." Dean started to explain. Willis looked at him confused.

"The guns we used are loaded with rock salt. When a ghost gets hit with it, its suppose to disappear. End of story." Sam explained further.

"Then you boys must be lousy shots cuz he didn't go anywhere till after he shot you." Dean looked at Sam as Willis spoke.

"He's right." Dean said thinking a moment. He looked up at Sam. "I can see maybe one of us missing a shot but not both of us missing our shots. We must have hit him at least once Sam."

"But why didn't he disappear then Dean?" Sam agreed. He knew the possibility that he missed was greater than the possibility of Dean missing. Dean simply was too good a shot not to have hit him.

"There's only one thing we can do now Sam." Dean said deadly seriously. He looked at his brother and then to Willis. "We're gonna have to burn his bones."

"But Dean we don't have a clue where he's buried, you said so yourself." He looked over at his brother.

"We do now, Sammy my boy." Dean said with a smile. "We do now."

TBC


	6. Chapter 6 Diplomacy and Determination

Authors Note: I'm sorry it's taken so long to update this story. Several other story demons attacked and I had to wrestle them into submission. Thanks for hanging in there.

Chapter 6 Diplomacy and Determination.

Willis only had one problem with Dean's plan and it kinda was a big one.

"No offense to y'all but if you start digging around in that old cemetery you boys are gonna attract a lot of the wrong attention." He tried to sound diplomatic but still make his point across.

"Its ok Willis, we've had lots of practice. We do it at night when no one is around and "poof!" on to the next gig." Sam tried to reassure the man they could do it. Willis hesitated and tried to say it differently without insulting them.

"I think the two of you would attract attention even if you were there during the day seeing on how that is a place for us black folks." Sam finally realized what he was saying.

"Sorry Willis, I just never thought about it that way." he smiled and looked over at his brother.

"Truthfully it hadn't occurred to me either Sam. Willis, we have to get in there. Maybe no one will notice." Dean tried but didn't see another way to do it.

"Son, two white boys digging in a black cemetery is gonna raise some eyebrows and maybe even get the law involved. I think you're gonna have to let someone else handle it." Willis was adamant.

"I don't know Willis. It's bad enough that you're involved. If you get others to help us, I can't say for sure that we will be able to protect them if this blows up in our face." Dean shook his head still unsure he wanted someone else's help.

"Oh I'm not gonna involve others Dean. This is something I'm gonna do myself." Willis told them crossing his arms defiantly. Dean and Sam turned and stared at him.

"No way Willis, no way." Dean stammered.

"Willis we cant let you do it, you're a…" Sam started to but didn't want to call him an 'old man'.

"Don't let my age fool you boys. I spent many long hours digging graves when I was a young man, this is no different."

"That's just it Willis, you were younger." Dean stood and shook his head.

"Boys I don't see how you have any choice here. I'm doin it and that's that." Willis glared at both of them.

"Not alone Willis. One of us will stay behind to help you." Sam said looking over at his brother and Dean quickly agreed.

"We're not taking no for an answer Willis. Look at it this way. With two backs shoveling it will take less time to get to the grave open and we'll be less likely to be caught." Dean spoke hoping to sway him. Willis paused and thought for a moment. As much as he knew he needed to do this he also knew he would be hard pressed to do it alone. He reluctantly agreed.

"We'd better get going then before it gets light out." Willis got up and immediately started for the door.

"Alright Willis, you and I will head over to the cemetery while Dean goes back to the school and keeps Rollins from starting anything." Sam spoke as he watched Willis head out to the car. He stood up and started to follow him.

"Hey why are you goin to the cemetery dude, I think this is my gig?" Dean grabbed Sam's arm stopping him.

"Dean you can't hardly move your shoulder. If we're looking for speed here I'm afraid you're not gonna be able to handle it." he gently patted Dean on his good shoulder. Dean cursed when he realized Sam was right.

"Okay be careful then. I'll drop you guys off at the cemetery. Call me as soon as you finish." Dean looked his brother in the eye. "Don't let anything happen to Willis. Let him help but you do most of the digging."

"Jesus Dean," Sam answered "like I'm really gonna let him get hurt."

"Just be careful. We don't know what Rollins is capable of." Dean asserted.

"I know Dean, I know." Sam assured his brother when they were interrupted by the Impala's car horn.

"Let's go." Dean smiled at Willis's impatience. They turned and joined Willis in the car.

The road leading to the cemetery was dark and empty as Dean pulled over to drop Sam and Willis off. Sam quickly pulled his duffle bag and some shovels from the trunk of the Impala as Dean watched from inside the car. When he was done, Sam walked back up to the driver's side window.

"I'll call you as soon as we get done. What are you gonna do?" Sam leaned down as he spoke.

"I'm gonna sit tight in the gym, that seems to be the place he is seen most often. I'm really hoping once his bones are burned he won't show up again." Dean replied looking up at his brother. "But if he does show up I'm gonna be prepared this time."

"Dean, the rock salt didn't work the last time. You're gonna have to resort to something else." Sam reminded his brother.

"I know dude, I've got it covered. The blue fireballs got me thinking. This guy's is not one of our run of the mill ghosts; he's hooked up with some demons along the way. I'm thinking I may have to resort to exorcising his bigoted ass. While you guys are digging, I'm gonna look through Dads journal and see if there is something that will work on him. If not, I'll just think of something else." Dean flashed his brother one of his cocky smiles. Sam knew that immediately meant trouble.

"Dean, don't you think you should have better plan than that, I don't like it. Stay here with us. We can get done faster and then we can all head over to the gym. I don't know if I like the idea of you being there alone against him, especially if he's part demon now." Sam tried to reason with Dean but he could tell right away he wouldn't be able to sway his stubborn brother.

Then suddenly Sam was afraid. It had only been a week ago that Dean had taken off on him, depressed and feeling alone. Sure Dean had seemed better in the few hours since they reunited, but what if he was just hiding his feelings like he always did. Dean looked up at him and seemed to read his thoughts.

"I'm not gonna do anything stupid, kiddo, I promise." His voice and his eyes told Sam he was sincere. Satisfied Sam stepped back from the car.

"I'll call you as soon as we're done. If Rollins even gives you a hint of trouble you call me. The school is only a few blocks from here. I can be there in a flash."

"A flash eh? What, teleportation one of your new gifts now?" Dean smiled giving his brother a hard time. "Damn I'm only gone a week and already you've developed new superpowers." Sam responded by punching Dean on his left shoulder.

"Owwwww dude that's my bad shoulder." Dean winced as he felt the pain of the burn again but he knew his brother hadn't hurt him intentionally.

"Aww Dean I'm sorry." Sam truly was. The last thing Sam wanted to do was cause Dean more pain. Dean gave him another reassuring smile.

"It's ok, really. Listen I'd better get goin. I'll talk to you in a little bit." Dean's mind starting to focus on his task ahead. "Be careful. No funny business. Any trouble and you call me and I mean any trouble."

"Only if you promise to do the same." Sam was adamant too.

"Deal." Dean said before starting the car back up. He took one last look at his brother before driving off. Sam watched as Dean went down the road and turned to go back to the school. The road was eerily silent and suddenly Sam remember Willis was with him. Turning around he saw Willis was now where to be seen.

Sam hopped the cemetery wall and started to search for the old man when suddenly the silence was interrupted by loud engine. Sam spun to his left and saw a backhoe heading straight towards him. Just as it got a few feet away it turned left and went down the cemetery road. Sam was surprised to see Willis in the driver's seat. He ran behind it until Willis stopped near an isolated grave in the back corner of the cemetery.

"Willis, what the hell?" he said breathlessly as he caught up to him. Willis put it in park and hopped down.

"I knew we didn't have a lot of time so I took the liberty of getting us a little help." He smiled as he patted the backhoe. "But this will only get us down so far. You and I will have to dig the final few inches."

"Not a problem. I think we can handle a few inches. Thanks a lot Willis this is really gonna be a big help." Sam was amazed at his sudden good fortune.

"Is this the grave?" Sam looked over to where Willis had parked. Sure enough the grave marker said 'Justice' on it.

"That'll be the one." Willis agreed. "It will be my pleasure to help you boys get rid of this bastard once and for all." Sam understood completely where his sense of vengeance came from. It would be his pleasure too.

"Stand back son and lets get it started." Willis said as he hopped back up in the cab of the backhoe. Sam looked around worried as the loud noise of the engine echoed through the cemetery. Willis moved the backhoe forward and immediately started to dig into the hard dirt that was Rollins's grave. It only took a few digs with the huge claws before Willis backed the machine up and switched it off. Sam walked up and looked down at how far the backhoe had dug.

"Wow!" he said amazed. "Do you think we can shrink this thing down and put it in the trunk of the Impala? Think of all the time Dean and I would save." Willis started to laugh at him.

"If you boys do this that often maybe you should look into getting one of your own."

"No way. Dean would never let me hitch it to the back his baby even if it did save us time." Sam laughed as well. He took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. Willis did the same. They both grabbed their shovels before climbing inside the grave to finish the job.

Willis dug with the determination of a man years younger. Sam was hard pressed to keep up with him but was equally determined not be shown up by the older man. Finally Sam hit the top of the casket with his shovel. He took his hatchet and started to break through the hard wood. Willis climbed up and looked down fascinated as the bones were revealed. Sam threw the wooden pieces up top so that the entire skeleton was in the open.

"Son of a bitch." Willis swore under his breath as he looked down at the body. He found his own body shaking a little. He quickly steadied himself. "Old fool, he can't hurt you now." He said under his breath. Sam climbed out and stood beside him.

"Now what?" Willis asked as he looked at Sam. Sam pulled a can of lighter fluid out from the duffle bag and a box of matches. He poured the lighter fluid all over the bones and stepped back. Looking back at Willis he offered the old man the boxes of matches.

"I believe the honor is yours sir." Sam said nodding as Willis took the box. Willis looked at him with grateful eyes.

"Thank you son." He said his voice full of emotion. He lit a match and watched it burn for a brief moment before throwing it down into the grave. Seconds later the flames grew high above to the ground level. Willis and Sam stepped back as they felt the warmth of the fire.

Abruptly the fire intensified and flared out of the grave. The flames turned blue and whipped around the two men throwing them to the ground. Willis laid unconscious on the ground as Sam leaned up in time to see the huge fireball race over towards the school.

"Dean!" was all he could cry out before he passed out as well.

TBC

Another author's note: First I make you wait forever for an update and then I end it on a cliffhanger. Am I evil or what? (Laughs an evil laugh) Don't forget to review. It will give me the incentive to get on with Dean's part and the end of the story.


	7. Chapter 7 Retribution and Restoration

Chapter 7 Retribution and Restoration.

Dean had no idea what was happening back at the cemetery. He figured it would only take a couple of hours or so to dig down to the coffin so he would have the time he needed to sort through and get the right answer. That they would use a backhoe never occurred to him since that was a luxury usually not afforded to them on a hunt. As much as he wanted them to get done quickly he realized he still needed more time. He sat in the library reading John's journal searching for the right exorcism to use against Rollins. One sounded promising but he dismissed it because it was more for a full demon, not a ghost with some demon attributes.

After an hour of searching he wasn't any closer than he was in the beginning. His eyes blurred as he read each page carefully. So many times he had been through John's journal the pages were burned into his memory but nothing seemed to fit. Again he came up with another answer, this time a spell, but it too was not quite right for this occasion. Getting desperate Dean decided he might have to combine them, taking parts from both that he thought would work. He wrote out the pooled exorcism/spell on a piece of paper and stuck it in his jacket pocket. If things got hairy he would not have time to be flipping back and forth in the journal. The journal he put back in the duffle bag.

Looking up at the clock he saw that 45 minutes had gone by. He still had go back to the kitchen, grab as much salt as he could find there, encircle the gym and set the trap for Rollins. Luckily the cafeteria was on the same side of the school as the gym was. He ransacked the kitchen and finally found a case of salt shakers and only a few actual cartons of salt. Dean cursed to himself when he saw the case of little salt shakers. Realizing he didn't have much choice he balanced the case, the cartons, his shot gun and his duffle bag and made his way back to the gym.

He dropped his duffle bag and shotgun by the southwest door and grabbed one of the cartons of salt. He quickly sprinkled some around the cold spot in the northeast corner of the gym, the one spot Rollins was seen in the most. It was Dean's plan to trap him there until he could use the exorcism. He then used the remaining cartons to continue around the gym but only got about half way around when they ran out. Cursing again he started opening every little salt shaker and poured out their contents. He was almost back to the beginning when he felt the telling chill. At first he couldn't see anything amiss but the hair on the back of his neck told him otherwise. He pulled out his phone and quickly dialed his brother.

"Come on Sammy pick it up." Dean continued to pour as he listened to his brother's phone ring.

"Damn it Sam why didn't you keep your phone in your pants pocket instead of your jacket?" If they were still digging he knew Sam would have left his jacket up on top like they always did. Dean listened to the phone ring a few more times, and then hit the redial button. What concerned him as well was the fact that it didn't go to voice mail. He knew Sam would have never turned his phone off during a hunt.

"I'll kill him if he let his battery die out." He muttered as he slammed his phone shut. Suddenly he started to notice a bluish glow from the north east corner to his left. He opened a few more shakers and poured them out but realized he wasn't going to get done before the Rollins re-entered the gym.

"Crap" he said looking around over to the corner. "Sammy hurry it up dude."

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Sam slowly raised his head, sat up, and assessed his injuries. Gratefully besides the tingling in his extremities and some singed clothing, he was relatively unscathed. Looking around he found Willis coming to close by. Sam crawled over to him and shook his shoulder.

"Willis! Willis can you hear me?" He leaned close to the old man as he called to him. Willis started to mumble as he stirred.

"Son of a bitch" he cried out as he became fully conscious. He looked up at Sam's worried face.

"Son what the hell just happened?" He sat up as well and rubbed his own hands and legs trying to remove the tingling feeling. His heart racing as his mind tried to comprehend what just happened to them.

"It didn't work." Sam said with a frightened tone.

"What do you mean it didn't work?" Willis turned and stared at him. "I thought you said this thing was over the minute you burned his bones?"

"I did and it usually does. Dean's right, Rollins has some become some sort of demonic ghost. Toasting him didn't stop him. I think he's heading back to the school right now." Sam said standing up and brushing himself off. Willis stood up next to him and looked over towards the school.

"That means your brother's over there all by himself. We got to get over there son." Willis was trying not sound alarmed in front of the younger man but he was frightened. Not for himself. He had lived a long life and was willing to face the possibility that he would die soon. No it was for Dean and his brother. The two boys had taken up a cause that was never theirs to begin with and now it might get them killed. If he did anything with his life it would be to make sure nothing more happened to any body else because of Donald Rollins. He wasn't sure how much he was going to be able to help but he sure wasn't gonna stand there much longer and let something bad happen. He turned and started for the school.

"Whoa Willis where do you think you're going?" Sam called him back as he watched the old man spin around.

"Son I know you don't know me but ones things for sure there's no way in hell I'm gonna let your brother get hurt again because of that bastard. That man caused enough grief when he was alive and now he's causin' more dead. I'm not havin' anymore of it. We're settlin' this once and for all." Willis spoke with a determined voice. Sam knew he couldn't have stopped him even if he tried.

"Let's go then." He nodded to Willis and together they ran as fast as they could towards the school.

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Dean watched only a few feet away, as the bluish glow became a huge fireball and entered the gym.He quickly reached around his pocket for the exorcism he had written out.

"Crap" he yelled when he realized his pocket was empty. He felt around in his jeans never taking his eyes off the figure that was now developing out of the fireball. It was no good the exorcism was gone. He cursed himself again when he saw the piece of paper lying on the floor over by the duffle bag and his shotgun.

"Damn how the hell did I lose that bitch?" He cursed his carelessness.

"What ever you had planned wouldn't have worked anyhow." The figure spoke to him. It had resumed the semblance of Donald Rollins and except for the bluish tint still looked relatively human.

"I can not be destroyed." He said menacingly. "Certainly not by you."

"Let's see about that." Dean said defiantly. Rollins laughed at him, taunting him.

"Your rock salt was simply an annoyance and even now your brother and that old man have failed to destroy my spirit. I have evolved past the prison of my bones. They have merely set me free." Rollins's laughter echoed off the gyms walls.

Dean set aside his momentary fear over what might have happened to his brother and Willis. Instead he started reciting the exorcism, trying to recall its exact wording from his memory. Rollins flinched ever so slightly as Dean spoke the words he had taken from his father's journal. His voice grew louder as he watched Rollins begin to weaken. The exorcism speaking to the demon part of Rollins. Dean watched as he grew desperate, the wicked smile wiped from his face.

Rollins could not contain the surprise he felt as he realized Dean could drain his powers from him. After all Dean was a mere human and he was part demon. The spell Dean was now using on him was weakening him even further. Dean could see the bluish tint begin to fade as Rollins began to revert back to a ghost again. He prayed Sam had had the chance to burn the bones before Rollins attacked them.

With a defiant burst of energy, Rollins threw a huge fireball at Dean. This one much bigger than the one that burned him before. It spun around the laid out salt, instead burning through the one part of the gym Dean hadn't had a chance to protect. Dean threw up his arms in a vain attempt to protect himself. The impact send Dean flying across the gym where he landed with a thud. Stunned he got up and started to recite the exorcism and the spell again, this time with more conviction. His eyes wandered to his shotgun as he spoke. Rollins immediately sensed what Dean planned to do, drew up another fireball and threw it in Dean's direction. Dean started running for the gun just as Sam and Willis ran into the gym behind him. Dean saw his brother as he dived for his gun.

"Sammy shoot him!" Dean screamed as he rolled on the floor firing towards Rollins. Sam didn't need any further motivation. He fired at Rollins at the same time Dean did. The already weakened Rollins screamed defiantly one last time before exploding in a bluish cloud of dust. His scream echoing through the gym.

Dean laid on the floor panting, adrenalin still pumping through him as he watched the dust disappear. Sam quickly ran over to him.

"Dean are you okay?" he asked as he helped his brother up.

"Damn Sammy that sure was close." Dean started to smile as he looked over at Sam. His smile quickly disappeared however as he looked past Sam only to see Willis now laying on the floor, slowly moving.

"Willis!" He cried out as he ran over to his friend. Sam joined him at Willis's side. Dean could see him struggle to breathe as he looked up at Dean.

"Willis lay still we're calling an ambulance." Dean spoke as Sam pulled his phone out, and was calling 911. Willis shook his head defiantly.

"No ambulance." He said weakly. "They won't make it on time." Sam looked over to Dean to see if he should continue. Dean's expression changed as he realized Willis spoke the truth. The 911 operator suddenly answered and Dean could hear Sam speaking to her.

"No Willis you have to hang in there." Deans eyes welled up as he spoke unwilling to give up yet. Willis just looked back up at Dean, his face getting more peaceful as he accepted his death.

"We got the bastard right Dean?" He spoke between gasps of breath. Dean smiled down at him and nodded.

"We got him Willis thanks to you." Dean needed the old man to know how much he appreciated his help.

"The kids are alright?" Willis asked his final thoughts on the children Rollins hurt so many years ago and the children he loved about to have their spring festival.

"The kids are alright Willis. They're safe now. " Dean promised him as he heard Willis take his last breaths with a smile. Sam hung up the phone and put his hand on Dean's shoulder.

"I know it's too late but they should be here momentarily." He too looked down at Willis's peaceful face.

"Give me a minute." Dean said quietly looking over at his brother.

"Sure thing." Sam said getting up. He pickup Dean's gun and his own and walked over to Dean's duffle bag putting them inside. He gave Dean a worried glance as he began to wonder how this death would affect him too.

They stood together as the paramedics arrived and determined that Willis had died. It was assumed that the old man had suffered a heart attack and the autopsy would later attest to that. Dean called his boss with the news. Jack immediately suggested that they call off the children's spring festival in honor of Willis. Dean knew that Willis wouldn't have wanted that to happen and convinced Jack to not make the announcement about Willis's death until after the festival. He knew the old man had been looking forward to seeing all the happy children and their parents having a good time. Jack assumed they hadn't had time to set up and offered to come over and help but Dean emphatically told him no. This was something he wanted to do, he needed to do.

Dean and Sam quickly cleaned every trace of salt around the gym. Then Dean pulled out the tables and the decorations as Sam went about and set up the stage area for the children's skits. They hung banners and crepe ribbons. Sam got the helium tank out, blew up a ton of balloons, and put them up all over the gym. He even made Dean laugh as he took a breath of helium and started to talk like Donald Duck. By morning they had finally finished just in time for some of the teachers and students to come in and add their own touches. By noon the place was filled with laughing kids and parents having a good time.

Sam snuck a peek at Dean a few times and caught him laughing as he watched the kids run around chasing each other.

"This is good." Dean said as he walked over to Sam. "Willis would have love this."

Sam laughed with him as they looked around the gym. Suddenly Sam spotted a group standing across the gym from them. He nudged Dean and pointed over in their direction. There was Miss Springton and her young students smiling at them. Miss Springton mouthed a thank you as the children waved at them. Dean nodded as Sam waved back to them. Neither one of them was prepared when a 7th child stepped up from around the group. There was Willis with his childhood friends at last. He smiled the biggest smile Dean had ever seen before turning around and taking off around the gym with Robby chasing after him. Dean looked over at Sam eyes wide and noticed Sam had the same amazed expression looking back at him. When they looked back at the children and their teacher, they were gone. Dean put his arm around Sam's shoulders and gave him a squeeze.

"We did good little brother. We did good." Dean said finally at peace himself.

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Epilogue.

Jack wasn't shocked when Dean told him he was quitting. They stuck around town long enough to go to Willis's funeral. Dean was quiet as usual but this time it was out of respect for his friend. Still Sam was surprised when Dean suggested that they hit the road again.

"You sure, cuz we can stay a little longer if you want." Sam asked not wanting to push Dean into doing something he didn't want to do again. Dean didn't see the point of staying any longer.

"No Sammy I think its time I get back to being the 'man of action' I really am." Dean said smiling, remembering how he reference himself the first time he met Willis.

"Man of action eh? Oh pleaseeeeeeeee." Sam gave him an eye roll before standing up and gathering their stuff.

15 minutes later they were back on the road.

The End.

Authors note: Thanks everyone for hanging in there. I kept having a massive writers block trying to come to the end of the story without hitting too many clichés. I don't know how well I succeeded but at least this one has finally come to a rest. Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks again for reading.


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